Day 2 - Waking up at home

He's doing good today The grogginess from the anesthesia has finally worn off. He's up and wanting to play, but is definitely frustrated because he can't use his hands. :( He ate a whole bowl of oatmeal for lunch and has been watching movies and roaming the house trying to play with anything most of the day.



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Surgery Updates...

They took Mason back at noon. He was such a big boy carrying his doggie! He will be in surgery for 3 hours. Will keep you posted!




At 2:45pm: Just got an update from the nurses. Mason is doing great. Left hand is done and they are now working on his right. Procedure is taking a little longer than planned, but not due to complications or anything bad like that. Now expected to be out of surgery by 4:30pm.

At 5:02pm: Out of surgery. All went great! Will get to see him soon and then we will be discharged to go home. No overnight stay! :)

At 6:15pm: Waking up and watching cartoons.




At 6:16pm: Heading Home!!

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Location:Dell Children's Hospital

Surgery Today!

Mason will be having hand surgery today at 10:30am. This time they will be separating his middle and ring fingers on both hands. This surgery will involve the use of skin grafts from his groin area. We had originally been told that this would not happen because the doctor did not think it would add any additional function. However, after watching him use his hands this summer, the doctor now thinks it will be good for him.
The doctor had also mentioned trying to straighten his thumb again since the pins that were inserted last year did not hold. This time he wants to take a bone graft from his hip and insert the piece of bone into his thumb to add more structure to the thumb. At this time the thumb is not listed as one of the procedures for today, but the doctor might do it anyway.
We have been told that today's procedure is considered to be outpatient surgery so it is not expected that we will spend the night in the hospital, but we will be prepared to do so just in case.
Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support for Mason. We love you!

All smiles before the surgery!



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Location:Dell Children's Hospital, Austin

Happy Holidays from Our Family to Yours

Happy Holidays from Our Family to Yours

It's hard to believe that time has flown by so quickly!  Christmas was memorable this year.  Mason actually opened his presents this year, which was a big improvement from last year!  

Our Little Fire Fighter

Our little Firefighter! :). He made it about half way around the block, and then got scared at a house that was playing scary noises. That was it. He was done. He cried all the way home!




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Sea World! September 15, 2012

Mason Met Cookie Monster!!

First Day of School, August 27, 2012

Surgery Day Again! May 8, 2012

Day 1 -

6:49 AM - Good morning! Surgery day again! This time is not a biggie (only tonsils and 3rd set of ear tubes). We will keep you posted throughout the day! :)










3:52 PM - Mason is doing great! He made it through surgery without any complications! He has already had ice cream (as can be seen by the the chocolate mustasche in the picture) and is happily playing with his toys. If things continue in this manner, he will be going home tomorrow! :)

Day 2 -

7:21 AM - Good morning! Mason slept most of the night, only waking to take meds. He did spike a fever of 101 once but was given Motrin. and it has been down ever since.

9:19 AM - We are outta here! :) Fastest discharge EVER! Lol!

Happy Birthday, Mason! April 26, 2012

I can't believe that it has already been 3 years since God graced us with the angel named Mason!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, wonderful baby boy! 

I love you!

Update - April 8, 2012

Hello all! I know it has been a while since our latest update. Since Mason's last surgery (the cleft palate repair and thumb surgery), Mason has been making great progress. He is trying to talk more and more. He says many things, but my favorite is "I-E-Ya" which is his version of "I love you!" :) He has acquired a few more teeth and is now up to 9 total with 2 more on the way. With his new teeth, he has discovered how to chew and bite. He ate his first non-pureed meal of Macaroni and Cheese not too long ago. Since then he has also discovered that he likes Spaghetti O's and today he even ate a few bites of pizza and a bite or two of a cupcake at a birthday party! It won't be long before he will be off all pureed foods! Mason's thumb surgery was successful, but in the weeks following, the muscles in his thumbs started to cause his thumbs to turn down again. To help maintain them being straight, he is having to wear thumb splints on a daily basis. The doctor will re-evaluate his thumbs in June to determine what steps we will be taking next with his hands. Coming up in May, he will be undergoing another surgery to insert his 3rd set of ear tubes and a tonsillectomy Although he will only spend 1 night in the hospital, he will be out of school for 1 to 2 weeks for recovery. We just had his evaluation for PPCD (the Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities) at BISD and he will be starting in the fall, with continued speech and occupational therapy throughout the rest of this school year and next. So as you can see, things are busy, busy, busy, but all is well! :) Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!

Clef Palette Surgery, January 4, 2012

Day 1 - Surgery day again! Today is Mason's cleft palate repair surgery! The surgery is scheduled to begin at 11am an is expected to last 2-3 hrs. We will keep you all posted on his progress! :)....Mason is out of surgery and all went well! We will be able to see him in recovery room is a few minutes and then he will be moved to the IMC floor for the next day or two. Dr noticed that his tonsils are rather large and so he will be monitored closely for breathing issues. If he needs more room in his mouth, he will have to have his tonsils out before we will be discharged.


Day 2 - Mason is more alert and tolerating pain much better today! The swelling in is tongue has gone down quite a bit and the doctors are happy with his improvement thus far. They have removed the nose tube but are keeping the tongue stitch in for a little longer.

...Tongue stitch is out now and he has started drinking fluids from a cup. Dr is very happy with his progress. :) At this time the Dr has decided to not take out his tonsils b/c he is breathing very well on his own. If progress continues at this rate, we have a good chance of going home tomorrow! :)


Day 3 - HOME BOUND! Hooray!

Hand Surgery, December 28, 2011

Hello All! Mason's hand surgery is today. He will be having pins put in to straighten his thumbs and they will deepen the space in between his pinkies and ring fingers on both hands. He went into surgery at noon and should last 2-3 hours. After surgery he will spend a few hours in recovery, and if all goes well he will be home by this evening! :). We will keep everyone posted on his progress! Next week will be his cleft palate repair.


...(later that same day)...Discharged to go home! Hooray!


Day 2 - at home: We made it through the night without too much disturbances. Today he is tired and frustrated! He is now VERY aware that he does not have full use of his hands! But after a 1hr boo-hoo for himself this morning he finally settled down and played some. Got some more meds and some food in his belly! :)

Merry Christmas, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving - November, 2011

Hope you are all having a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mason is doing wonderfully! His cranial surgeries this summer were extremely successful. His next surgeries will be coming up next month just after Christmas. He will have 2 separate surgeries 1 week apart from each other. The first will be on his hands. They will be straightening his thumbs and widening his hand span by cutting back the webbing between his pinkies and other fingers. The second surgery will be to repair his cleft palette As always, we will keep you posted throughout both procedures and recoveries!

Distractors Removed - September 28, 2011

Day 1 - Mason had his surgery today to remove the distractors that were inserted in July to add more space in his head. All went well. He is in recovery right now and will spend the night in the IMC for observation and should be sent home tomorrow.


Day 2 - Mason is up and ready to go. He was finally "unplugged" and allowed to go for a walk, and now I can't get him to go back to his room! LOL! Dr's came and he is on schedule to be allowed to go home this afternoon.

ICP Monitoring - July 26, 2011

Day 1 - ICP monitor is in place. Waiting to be called back to recovery and then he will be moved to an IMC room to be monitored over the next few days. Scheduled for 4 days but could be out in as few as 2 if no mishaps occur.


Day 2 - We are almost done with day 2. The monitoring is showing that the pressure in Mason's head is still higher than the neurosurgeon would like, even after the cranial surgery. So now we will continue to turn the distractors to widen the space they are creating in Mason's head. We will not be release from the hospital until the pressure goes down to a level that the neurosurgeon is comfortable with. Oh well, so much for being out of here after a few days! :( Mason is hanging in there like a champ as he always does! :)


Day 3 - The wire for the ICP monitor has developed a kink or something in it. So it is back into surgery tomorrow to replace the wire. This really isn't a big surgery. The doctor explained that if Mason was older and capable of understanding and able to contol himself long enough to sit still for more than 20 minutes, he wouldn't have to even be put under. It would just be a local anethetic to numb the area and insert the wire. Looks like we will be here through the weekend. Thankfully a room at the Ronald McDonald House opened up so we will be able to get some more restful sleep. :)


Day 4 - Dr. has decided that it is not worth putting him under again for just a day of monitoring. So monitor is coming out and we are being discharged today. :). Yipee!!! Praise God!

Checking in - July 23, 2011

Hello all! Just checking in to let you know Mason is doing great. On Tuesday, July 26th, we go back to the hospital for a few days to do the pressure monitoring again. The doctors want to compare the results of the monitoring now that he has had his cranial surgery with the results from the time they did it in March before his surgery.

Post Surgery - July 5, 2011

This cranial surgery was a success.  This time the spacers were much smaller, but his frustration level was much higher during recovery.  He recovered well and was home within 4 days of surgery.

It's Surgery Time Again!

Well it's that time again. Mason is gearing up to have his next major cranial surgery on Tuesday, July 5th. It's nice that we were able to go 6 months without being in the hospital but it's that time again. This surgery will be the same one he had back in December of 2009. They will be opening his skull, putting in spacers (called distractors) and basically forcing his bones to grow out so as to give his brain more room to grow and release the pressure that has been building in his head since the last surgery. I will keep everyone posted as much as possible.

I have created a group on Facebook called Updates for Mason. It is open to everyone to become a member. That way I can post the updates one time and in one place for all to be able to read. Please feel free to join the group and add your friends as well if they want to keep up on the latest info about Mason!

We want to send out a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that helped, contributed, and participated in Mason's latest benefit in May. It was a huge success. It raised close to $7500 which helped us pay off his medical bills for this past year and we have enough to also cover our copays for this upcoming surgery as well! We cannot thank everyone enough for the love and support that continues to flow in for our family!

I know that I am behind on updating the pictures, but I will upload them in the next few weeks once everything settles down from his surgery! He is doing great, being pretty much a typical 2 year old: climbing on everything, getting into everything, and just being happy and loving life! AMEN!

Until the next update, thank you all again and again for your prayers, support and love!

Sincerely,

Allison, Justin, & Mason

Benefit for Mason - May 14th

Hello all!


Hope things are going well for you! Things have been busy as usual for us. Mason went back to the doctors Thursday (4/21). After the ICP Monitoring was completed in March, they have determined that the pressure in his head is high (as was expected), but not high enough to warrant doing a surgery to move his forehead forward immediately. They are very happy that they can wait to do that, so that they don’t have to separate his forehead from the rest of his face. So now the plan is to do another surgery to stretch the back of his head again (and give him more room there) this summer. After that surgery is complete, then we will discuss when to do the front and the face. They still aren’t concerned about fixing his cleft palate at this time, but will be looking at that after this summer as well.


I have attached a copy of the flyer for the upcoming benefit that we will be having to help cover the continued medical expenses for Mason. I know that not everyone can make it, especially those that are so far away, but I just wanted to keep everyone up-to-date on his progress and journey!

With all our love,

Allison and Justin – and of course Mason!